


Beautiful Stranger

by Newtgitsune



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Actors, Bookstores, Hotel Rooms, M/M, Movie Sets, Newt is hot, Newt loves it, Thomas has never heard of subtlety, Thomas is an Idiot, living their best lives, they're actors, this all goes way too fast, wbk, wbk also, whatever its fiction we dont CARE about realistic timing, yea thats it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-24 15:34:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21840241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Newtgitsune/pseuds/Newtgitsune
Summary: When Thomas gets the role of the main character in an upcoming YA movie, he could not be happier. However, a beautiful stranger keeps him from fully focusing on his role- turns out, the guy is not just playing the role of 'bookshop customer #1'.Actor AU! for theoriginaltrio!
Relationships: Newt/Thomas (Maze Runner)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 91
Collections: Maze Runner Secret Santa 2019, Pieces of Newtmas





	Beautiful Stranger

**Author's Note:**

  * For [zukkas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zukkas/gifts).



> "However, Thomas could just not focus.
> 
> His character was fun to read and seemed fun to play. The story’s setting wasn’t too hard to envision, albeit a little bit unrealistic and foreign to Thomas- however, that was the point of a book, wasn’t it? To take you to a new world you didn’t know yet. So, that wasn’t the issue.
> 
> The issue lay with his character’s love interest.
> 
> He was interesting. Personality wise he seemed like someone Thomas would like himself. The thing Thomas could not get past was the way his appearance was described. 
> 
> He could only see the guy from the bookshop.
> 
> Blond hair. Check. Brown eyes. Check. Generally gorgeous. Triple check.
> 
> How was he ever supposed to finish this book if all he could think about was a stranger he saw once in a store?"

Thomas didn’t expect to start his day out by having a heart attack.

He also didn’t expect to get a job, but here he was. 

When his phone’s ringtone blared through the room and rudely woke him from his dream, he nearly fell out of bed. Thomas grabbed his phone from his nightstand -nearly dropping it in the process-, his heart beating like it was on steroids, and answered it.  
  
“Hello?” he murmured groggily, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

_“Hi, Thomas!”_ an excited, _way too excited for this time in the morning,_ voice rang in his ear. “You got the job!” 

“I- wait, what?” Thomas sat up straight. “Who is this? What job?” 

_“Thomas. Your Manager. Jorge. Hello. Good morning. You got the role? The one you auditioned for about two weeks ago?”_

Now he was awake. 

“I got it?” he yelled back, now matching his manager’s excitement, “really?”

_“Yes, really. They’ll send you the script, it should get there soon. Filming starts in three weeks, the whole schedule will be mailed in about two. You should probably read the book before you start filming, just to be prepared.”_

Thomas barely heard anything his manager said. “Got it, got it,” he replied, basically vibrating on his bed, only to be met with silence. 

_“You didn’t hear anything I said, did you?”_

“No, I didn’t. Can you text me the details? I gotta go.” he threw the covers off and got out of bed, almost tripping over his phone’s charging cord. 

_“Thomas, I- yeah, whatever. I’ll text you. See you soon.”_ and with that, Jorge hung up. Not that it mattered- Thomas had already abandoned his phone, jumping up and down in his room with the energy of a child on Christmas morning. “I got the job!” he beamed, forgetting for a second that it was 1) 7 am on a Saturday, 2) he had neighbours, and 3) his apartment had very thin walls.

After he had been sufficiently scolded by his nextdoor neighbour, who was _not at all_ happy with Thomas’s excitement, Thomas picked up his phone again, immediately texting his parents and friends the good news. 

Today was gonna be good.

\------------------------------------

_Holy shit, the YA section has so many books._

Thomas took a step back and looked at the bookshelves. How was he ever supposed to find the book in this sea of covers? He sighed and went back to the first shelf, starting from A and going from there.

He should have looked up the author’s name. Of course, he did not. Thomas patted on his coat pocket, only to find absolutely nothing inside.

_Great._

Thomas looked around, hoping to find either an employee or a computer. Instead, his eyes landed on another patron on the other end of the aisle, skimming through a book with a very familiar title. Thomas sighed in relief, breathed in deep, and shuffled closer to the other customer, trying to read the small print on the cover that had the info he was looking for.

“Can I help you?” 

Thomas shot up. “Oh, I’m sorry, I was just trying to read the author’s name,” he mumbled, locking eyes with the patron.

_Wow._

The eyes his own met were like no other he had ever seen. A deep, dark brown, almost black, with golden flecks catching the light in a way that made the irises look like liquid bronze, framed by thick, dark lashes, contrasting with the fair skin around them. 

“You alright?” the same voice said- a harmonious sound with a bit of a rasp, laced with a thick foreign accent. 

Thomas batted his eyes down, deciding his shoelaces were in desperate need of attention. “Uh, yeah, I’m good. Sorry. I tend to space out.” he rattled, throwing in an awkward chuckle for good measure. 

“That’s okay.” the voice was accompanied by the sound of a book closing, before the familiar, bright-colored cover entered Thomas’s vision. He looked up again to see the customer handing him the book he was looking for. 

“Oh, eh, thanks,” he stuttered. He reached for the book and tried to grab it, but the book had other plans. It slipped away between his fingers, heading for the carpeted floor.

Thomas bent down, his arm shooting out to snatch the book out of the air, when his head met something hard and a sudden pain shot through his skull. He let out a yelp and pulled back his hand, reaching for his head instead.  
  


“Ow, fuck,” he cursed under his breath, hissing in pain. He shot up, rubbing the sore spot on his scalp.

“Jesus, sorry about that,” the voice spoke again. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Thomas answered quickly. “Are you?” 

“‘M fine, thanks.” was the reply.

Thomas opened his eyes, not even realising he’d pressed them shut at the moment of the collision, only to see his own movement being mimicked by the head his own had banged against- or rather, by the body attached to it.

“I’m sorry,” Thomas breathed, “I was just-” his voice trailed off. 

The person stood in front of him was a tall, slender man, with blond hair fanning out around his head like a golden halo. He wore a leather motor jacket and skinny - _skinny_ \- jeans, wrapped around his legs that seemed to go on for _days._ He had a sharp, square jaw, accentuated by freckles that were nearly invisible against his pale skin- especially now that a light flush had turned said skin a light pink colour.

“Spacing out again?”  
  
Thomas shook his head to tear his eyes away from the sight in front of him. “Jesus, yeah, sorry. I don’t know what’s up with me today.” 

“It’s fine.” the man chuckled. “Anyway..” he bent down and picked up the book, handing it to Thomas. 

“Thanks,” Thomas smiled. He looked the stranger in his eyes again. 

_Man, I wish I had better people skills._

“..Anyway,” the man chuckled, “I better get going.”

Thomas felt a slight twinge of disappointment in his chest. He wasn’t sure why, but he really wanted to stay here and talk to this stranger- which was odd, to say the least, considering Thomas was usually overcome with social anxiety whenever someone decided to speak to him in public. 

“Yeah, me too.” he smiled. “Maybe I’ll see you again?” 

The stranger returned his smile. “Maybe.” and with that, he walked off, leaving Thomas with a book to read and breath to catch.

\------------------------------------

Thomas loved reading. Really, he did. Even though he had the attention span of a goldfish and found it generally hard to calm down, he loved to snuggle up on the couch with a hot cup of tea, a warm blanket and a good book. 

The book he was reading for the film he was starring in - _can you believe it!_ \- was good. He had his blanket, and a delicious cup of steaming hot tea. It was now drizzling outside, the rain softly tapping against the windows of his apartment, setting the perfect scene for a late afternoon filled with a good read.

However, Thomas could just not focus.

His character was fun to read and seemed fun to play. The story’s setting wasn’t too hard to envision, albeit a little bit unrealistic and foreign to Thomas- _however, that was the point of a book, wasn’t it? To take you to a new world you didn’t know yet._ So, that wasn’t the issue.

The issue lay with his character’s love interest.

He was interesting. Personality wise he seemed like someone Thomas would like himself. The thing Thomas could not get past was the way his appearance was described. 

He could only see the guy from the bookshop.

Blond hair. Check. Brown eyes. Check. Generally gorgeous. Triple check.

How was he ever supposed to finish this book if all he could think about was a stranger he saw _once_ in a store? 

Frustrated, Thomas closed the book and tossed it onto his coffee table, careful to not knock over his cup of now lukewarm tea. He picked up said cup and sipped at it, looking out of the window next to his couch. The streets were dark, the only light coming from the street lanterns and christmas lights that adorned the other apartment’s windows. The light drizzle from before had turned into a much heavier rain, drumming on his roof and the window.

Thomas finished his cup of tea and poured himself another one from the teapot his mother had given him as a housewarming gift when he’d moved out. He grabbed the newly filled cup with both of his cold hands, warming them on the heating ceramic. 

Thomas hated the rain. But right now, if it meant he could go see the beautiful stranger again, he’d run right into the thunderstorm that was forming outside.

However, he didn’t have that guarantee, so he just had to stay inside and hope for the best.

_And read this damn book._

  
  


\------------------------------------

It took Thomas a week to finish a book he’d normally finish in a day and a half.

All because of that _stupid_ stranger. 

He spent the other two weeks reading the script. That wasn’t any easier. 

Now, he was standing in front of the studio doors, clutching the already crumpled pages of his script, ready to go in and meet his new cast members.

Thomas took a deep breath. Then another one. A last one, for good measure. 

Then, he pushed open the doors. 

The set was _huge_.

Before this, Thomas had only worked on short films. They were either shot on location or in a way smaller studio. This was completely new to him.

Right in front of him was a gigantic, wooden wall. It was decorated with prints and lettering, resembling the inside of an artsy coffee shop. The round coffee tables with lamps and tiny succulents in the middle finished the set. The only reason Thomas could see it _wasn’t_ a real cafe was because it was surrounded by huge studio lights and several _very expensive_ cameras.

Thomas wasn’t going near any of those. He’d probably manage to bump into one of them and cost the producers a fortune. Also, he’d probably be kicked off the set and be banished from the entire film industry.

He wouldn’t be too happy with that. 

Thomas let his eyes wander around the set. Along the high, _high_ walls, the crew scuttering around, the group of people his age, one of which was approaching him right now-

“Hi! I’m Teresa, you’re Thomas, right?”

Thomas snapped out of his head and smiled. “Yeah, hey, nice to meet you!” he looked down to see the girl- Teresa- stretch her hand out. He shook it and looked back at her.

“I’m playing Olivia. You’re playing Noah, if I’m correct?” she beamed back at him.

“Yeah, I am-” Thomas wasn’t allowed to finish his sentence according to Teresa. She held his hand tightly and pulled him along, closer to the group of people she had been speaking with earlier. 

“Guys, this is Thomas. He’s playing Noah. Thomas, meet your new castmates!”

“Hi,” Thomas said sheepishly.

“This is Minho, he’s Joshua. Brenda, she’s Naomi. Gally, he’s…” Teresa rattled off an endless list of names, the real ones and the character names blurring together in Thomas’s already unorganized head. 

“..and last but definitely not least, meet Newt. He’ll be playing Oliver.” 

Thomas’s eyes followed Teresa’s hand waving around the place, ending on, _what was it, Newt?_ He glanced up from her hand to the face of the other actor.

_Oh my God._

“Hi there. Nice to see you again. How’s your head?” 

Thomas’s entire vocabulary had left the premesis. 

The same tall, slender figure. The defined jawline. The halo-like hair. The dark, russet eyes. 

“..Thomas? You okay?” Teresa nudged his shoulder with her elbow, bringing him back to reality. 

“Oh, yeah, sorry. I was just.. we’ve met before,” he managed to stammer, never breaking eye contact with Newt. 

_Interesting name. Fits him, though._

“Really?” Teresa’s bright blue eyes opened wide. “How? Where?”  
  
“We butted heads in a bookshop.” Newt answered. Thomas cast his eyes down to the ground, muttering a soft _yeah_ under his breath.

The first guy Teresa introduced - _Minho, was it?_ \- laughed at that. “Sounds like a fun way to meet.

“Sure,” Thomas said with an awkward chuckle, trying not to show how much he was overcome with.. _emotion_ after seeing Newt again.

Thomas had always been bad at hiding things.

“Hello? Earth to Thomas?” Teresa’s voice rung through his head again, followed by Newt’s laugh. The melodious sound made Thomas’s heart jump.

“He tends to space out. Or so he told me.” Newt explained. 

“..Alright,” Teresa stated after a moment of silence, “Anyway, the crew is still busy building the set. You guys wanna go get some coffee or something? So we can get to know each other?” 

A bunch of agreements rose from the group and together, they exited the studio, looking for a coffee shop. 

A _real_ one, this time.

\------------------------------------

Thomas loved his job.

For a month straight, every day, he arrived at the set or location they were filming at with a bright smile. Even though he now had permanent bags under his eyes (thankfully they had great makeup artists) and other activities that were a part of his daily life had been put on the back burner -he hadn’t read a book in at least five weeks- he never got tired of the movie life. Especially since he and his other cast members had gotten so close.

_Especially_ because he and Newt had gotten so close. 

Newt was his - _his characters!_ \- love interest. That meant that they had many scenes, rehearsals, and breaks together. Which meant that they basically spent the entire month together.

Thomas was worried his heart couldn’t take it.

Newt turned out to be not only gorgeous from the outside, but also pretty much perfect on the inside. He was incredibly clever, wonderfully funny, caring, thoughtful..

Every time Thomas entered the set and Newt was present, he had to take a moment to take in the wonderful human being that the universe had decided he needed to meet. 

He was starting to wonder if God was real after all.

  
  


\------------------------------------

Thomas was sat on his bed in his hotel room with the script in front of him. The schedule he had been sent said that tomorrow, they’d be filming an important scene. A love confession scene. Which is normally important in and of itself, but considering this was a romantic comedy- it was essential that they got this right.

Apparently, he wasn’t the only one that saw the importance of rehearsing the night before.

Thomas’s head snapped up when he heard a faint knock on his hotel room door. He threw the covers off and made his way to the door, making sure to step over his half-unpacked back that had been thrown down at the foot end of his bed- he had tripped on it before and just barely missed the sharp edge of the room’s tv table. 

He couldn’t be bothered to clean it up, though.

Thomas looked through the peephole in the door and saw a now familiar mop of blond hair on the other side. He couldn’t have opened the door faster.

“Hey, Newt. What’s up?” 

“Hey, Tommy.” (Thomas didn’t know why or when Newt had decided that that would be his nickname, but he didn’t mind it _at all._ )

Newt smiled at him and raised his hand- he was holding the same script Thomas had been reading just seconds before. “I saw we had an important scene tomorrow.”  
  
“We do?” Thomas squeaked, quickly scraping his throat. “I mean, of course we do. I knew that. I was rehearsing.” he gestured towards the script on his bed.

Newt nodded. “So was I. So I thought.. maybe we could rehearse together? Figure out the feel of the scene and whatnot..” his voice trailed off, looking at Thomas with what seemed like a hopeful look.

Thomas’s breath hitched in his throat. “Yeah, sure, come in,” he blurted out, maybe too quickly. He stepped aside, making room for Newt to step in. “I’m sorry about the mess.”

Newt waved the apology away with a laugh. “Don’t worry, my room looks the same.” 

They sat down on the edge of the bed. Thomas reached over and grabbed his script, flipping through the pages until he got to the right scene.

“Okay, so we’re in front of Noah’s house,” Newt said, reading the description in the scenario. “The sun is setting, Oliver’s telling Noah how he feels about him. Ready?” 

Thomas took a deep breath and skimmed the first few lines, then nodded. “Yeah.” 

“Alright.” Newt put down his script and looked Thomas in his eyes. Thomas felt his hand tightening around the bed sheet he didn’t even know he was holding. 

_“Noah, I need to tell you something.”_

Thomas nodded. _“Okay? I’m listening.”_

Newt looked down and smiled slightly. _“I’m, um, not very good at expressing how I feel, so bear with me, okay?”_

 _  
_ Thomas matched Newt’s smile and reached forward, -holy hell, his hand was shaking- laying his hand on top of Newt’s _. “Oliver, it’s okay. I’m here.”_

Newt took a deep breath and twisted his arm around, interlocking their fingers. Thomas looked at their hands and felt his heartbeat trying to break out of his ribcage, his breathing copying the hasty rhythm. 

_“I like you. A lot. I have since the beginning. I love your smile, your laugh, the way you stare when you space out again. I love how excited you get and how clumsy you are. I’ve liked you ever since the bookstore and I’ve only fallen deeper since then, and Christ, I hope you feel the same, otherwise these next few months spent are going to be very, very awkward whenever we’re together.”_

Thomas frowned. He hadn’t read any of that before. “That’s not your line.”

Newt squeezed his hand softly and Thomas looked up, only to find Newt staring at him.

“I know.”

And before he could react, Thomas felt something soft pressing against his lips. Instinctively, he closed his eyes, melting into the feeling of Newt’s lips on his own.

He felt Newt’s thumb stroke the back of his knuckles, and another hand cupping his jaw, sending sparks flying beneath his skin wherever Newt’s fingers grazed his cheek.

Thomas eased into the kiss, gently returning it, his chest feeling too small for the insane amount of butterflies darting around in there.

The butterflies did not stop when Newt pulled back- although Thomas felt like it was way too soon and should have continued for at least an eternity.

He reopened his eyes to be met with Newt’s deep bronze gaze. Slowly, but surely, a smile spread out across both of their faces, along with a healthy blush.

Newt was the first to speak.

“So?”

  
  


_Man, Thomas loved his job._

**Author's Note:**

> Hi theoriginaltrio! Merry Christmas!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed your gift! Your prompts were amazing, I had such a hard time choosing! I had a lot of fun with this one, and I hope you had as much fun reading it!
> 
> Much love, 
> 
> Your Secret Santa x


End file.
